Western appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1885-18??, 1887-11-05
ONE WAS SAVED.

A Survivor Of the Wrecked Steamer
Vernon Rescued from q Raft, After
Spending Sixty Hours in the Water
His Version of the Catastrophe Fifty
Persons were Aboard the Doomed Yes.
sci.
STURGEON BAY, Wis, Nov. Up to the
arrival of the schooner Pomeroy from Chi
cage, which passed through the bay yester-
day, it was supposed that not single sur
vivor was left Of the forty or fifty people
who were on the propeller Vernon when
she went down off sheboygan early last
Saturday morning. 1t is now known, how
ever, that at least one man lives to tell the
tale of that terrible night on Lake Mchi-
gan The Pomeroy has on board the
only survivor, so far as now known,
OF that awful disaster. The name of
the man who has thus been rescued
from death after he had given up
all hope of ever again setting his foot upon
dry land is Alfred Stone. He is from Chi
cago and is one Of the Vernon's crew. He
mad been in the water sixty hours, exposed
to bitter, piercing wind, and without bite
to eat, when the Pomeroy discovered him
on raft Monday night about eight miles
from Sheboygan. 1t was clear, moonlight
night Stone was SO cold as to be almost
helpless and so weak from hunger that he
could scarcely move. Although still very
weak from the effects Of his awful expert
ence Stone was able to make brief state
ment OF the never-to- be-forgotten night.
Said he:
I was awakened In the middle OF the night
vessel Was sinking. sprung out of the window
and found myself on life raft with six
other persons; / can not say now who my
companions were. Part of them were men,
pers OF the crew and part were spassen-
gers. 1t seemed only moment before the yes
sci had gone down, and believe that all but
few OF those on board went down with her. On
The steamer there were twenty five passengers
and twenty-five of q crew, all told. Two pas
sengers were taken on at Sheboygan, the bal
ance ut Point st. Ignace. There were among
the passengers six ladies'. No children were
on board. They were mostly bound for Chicago.
1--WE passed through an awful night. Ithink
i never saw such a sea as that which tossed our
little raft at its mercy. When daylight
came we hoisted signal OF distress,
using coat tied to an oar Two YES
sells passed so near US on Saturday that
they must have seen our signal; yet for some
reason they apparently made no effort to reach
US. The storm still ragged, and it may be that
they had all they could do to save themselves.
lone after another of my companions per-
ishod in the cold or was washed off the raft
hold on any longer. We never saw any others
from the sunken steamer, and don't believe
that any others survived. The vessel went
down so suddenly that the crew hadn't time
TO man the boats"
Saturday, he says, was bitterly cold, and
the only way he could keep from freezing
was by moving about. AS it was, his feet
were quite badly frozen. He had on q life
preserver, cork underwear, breeches, Mack
inaw shirt, blouse, coat and shoes This
warm clothing, together with his strong
physique, doubtless saved his life
He talked with the crew on the raft before
they died, and they all seemed to attribute
the wreck to the overlooking of the vessel
and the non-closing of the gangways, to-
gether with the putting out of one of the
fires Friday night. The second fire went out
about an hour after the first The boat did
not carry any canvas, and when the fires
were out ran before the wind